Matching Items (179)
Description
Synthetic biology is constantly evolving as new ideas are incorporated into this increasingly flexible field. It incorporates the engineering of life with standard genetic parts and methods; new organisms with new genomes; expansion of life to include new components, capabilities, and chemistries; and even completely synthetic organisms that mimic life while being composed of non-living matter. We have introduced a new paradigm of synthetic biology that melds the methods of in vitro evolution with the goals and philosophy of synthetic biology. The Family B proteins represent the first de novo evolved natively folded proteins to be developed with increasingly powerful tools of molecular evolution. These proteins are folded and functional, composed of the 20 canonical amino acids, and in many ways resemble natural proteins. However, their evolutionary history is quite different from natural proteins, as it did not involve a cellular environment. In this study, we examine the properties of DX, one of the Family B proteins that have been evolutionarily optimized for folding stability. Described in chapter 2 is an investigation into the primitive catalytic properties of DX, which seems to have evolved a serendipitous ATPase activity in addition to its selected ATP binding activity. In chapters 3 and 4 we express the DX gene in E. coli cells and observe massive changes in cell morphology, biochemistry, and life cycle. Exposure to DX activates several defense systems in E. coli, including filamentation, cytoplasmic segregation, and reversion to a viable but non-culturable state. We examined these phenotypes in detail and present a model that accounts for how DX causes such a rearrangement of the cell.
ContributorsStomel, Joshua (Author) / Chaput, John C (Thesis advisor) / Korch, Shaleen (Committee member) / Roberson, Robert (Committee member) / Ghirlanda, Gionvanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 performs oxygenic photosynthesis. Light energy conversion in photosynthesis takes place in photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII) that contain chlorophyll, which absorbs light energy that is utilized as a driving force for photosynthesis. However, excess light energy may lead to formation of reactive oxygen species that cause damage to photosynthetic complexes, which subsequently need repair or replacement. To gain insight in the degradation/biogenesis dynamics of the photosystems, the lifetimes of photosynthetic proteins and chlorophyll were determined by a combined stable-isotope (15N) and mass spectrometry method. The lifetimes of PSII and PSI proteins ranged from 1-33 and 30-75 hours, respectively. Interestingly, chlorophyll had longer lifetimes than the chlorophyll-binding proteins in these photosystems. Therefore, photosynthetic proteins turn over and are replaced independently from each other, and chlorophyll is recycled from the damaged chlorophyll-binding proteins. In Synechocystis, there are five small Cab-like proteins (SCPs: ScpA-E) that share chlorophyll a/b-binding motifs with LHC proteins in plants. SCPs appear to transiently bind chlorophyll and to regulate chlorophyll biosynthesis. In this study, the association of ScpB, ScpC, and ScpD with damaged and repaired PSII was demonstrated. Moreover, in a mutant lacking SCPs, most PSII protein lifetimes were unaffected but the lifetime of chlorophyll was decreased, and one of the nascent PSII complexes was missing. SCPs appear to bind PSII chlorophyll while PSII is repaired, and SCPs stabilize nascent PSII complexes. Furthermore, aminolevulinic acid biosynthesis, an early step of chlorophyll biosynthesis, was impaired in the absence of SCPs, so that the amount of chlorophyll in the cells was reduced. Finally, a deletion mutation was introduced into the sll1906 gene, encoding a member of the putative bacteriochlorophyll delivery (BCD) protein family. The Sll1906 sequence contains possible chlorophyll-binding sites, and its homolog in purple bacteria functions in proper assembly of light-harvesting complexes. However, the sll1906 deletion did not affect chlorophyll degradation/biosynthesis and photosystem assembly. Other (parallel) pathways may exist that may fully compensate for the lack of Sll1906. This study has highlighted the dynamics of photosynthetic complexes in their biogenesis and turnover and the coordination between synthesis of chlorophyll and photosynthetic proteins.
ContributorsYao, Cheng I Daniel (Author) / Vermaas, Wim (Thesis advisor) / Fromme, Petra (Committee member) / Roberson, Robert (Committee member) / Webber, Andrew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Zoos are doing amazing projects to help wildlife globally and locally. A lot of people aren't aware of what goes on with these conservation projects because much of it happens behind the scenes. So I decided to make a film to explain how zoos facilitate our world's wildlife. My film can be viewed at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JmLGf138zY
ContributorsRossman, Chloe June (Author) / Sandler, Kevin (Thesis director) / Wells, Stuart (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
An issue with the utilization of swimming pools is that pumps are operated an excessive number of hours to keep the pool free of debris and algae. Case in point, according to the pool industry, a pump should operate one hour for every ten degrees of ambient temperature. A dynamic model and a control strategy have been developed using Matlab/Simulink that uses environmental conditions together with chemicals that hinder or aid algae growth in order to determine algae population. This model suggests ways to function the pump on shorter time intervals to reduce energy consumption, while simultaneously maintaining algae populations at acceptable levels. Other factors included in the model are pool thermal dynamics and pool pump/filter performance characteristics, since they also have an effect algae growth. This thesis presents the first step for an alternative way of operating a swimming pool by minimizing operating costs while eliminating algae.
ContributorsBallard, Roderick (Author) / Macia, Narciso (Thesis advisor) / Narveson, Brentt (Committee member) / Mchenry, Albert (Committee member) / Dempster, Thomas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
DescriptionA self-help guide for the independent animator. Answers the question, "What do I do when I finish a film?" Includes information on how to successfully market a film as well as different avenues of distribution. Discusses both shorts and features.
ContributorsHoma, Christopher Andres Burruel (Author) / Pinholster, Jacob (Thesis director) / Bernstein, Gregory (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The globalization of dance offers a unique situation to encourage peace. The kinesthetic experience associated with dance builds communities and unites people without needing to share the same language or be in the same location on the planet. Dance is a vehicle to understand other cultures but how can people be given the keys? As the 2014 Circumnavigator Travel Study Grant recipient for Arizona State University (ASU), I traveled to six countries in three continents over seventy-two days conducting ethnochoreology (dance ethnography) research. Upon returning I had a passion to share my experience through dance. Therefore I organized a charity dance concert. To share my kinesthetic education from my trip I taught six high schools each a dance from the countries I visited. An additional high school, elementary school and ASU students joined the concert. The performers and audience members gained new understanding, curiosity and appreciation. The proceeds of the concert have started a new scholarship for ASU students pursuing dance or studying abroad. This journey has come full circle just like the Circumnavigator trip which began this project. Knowledge of other dances from around the world invites participants to see into the heart of the culture, creating empathy. Therefore dance can ignite peace.
ContributorsCoury, Melia Ann (Author) / Vissicaro, Pegge (Thesis director) / Ostrom, Amy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
I am double majoring in Film & Media Production and Geography, and whenever I tell anyone that their first reaction is one of polite incredulity. The two disciplines seem so far from each other that there doesn't seem to be any possible way of combining them. With this project, I wanted to incorporate these two very different fields into one meaningful product. Using film as a medium, I explored how impactful a geographical location can truly be on someone. When we think about our pasts, we often focus on the people and events, losing sight of the physical location where these memories take place. Life in a Museum attempts to shine a light on this forgotten aspect of memory. I moved to Prescott, Arizona when I was 11 and moved away when I was 18, living there for only 7 years. Yet as time passes, I am starting to realize how impactful Prescott has been on me. For my Honors Creative Project, I created a video essay in an attempt to "map" my relationship with Prescott and how it has changed over time. Incorporating digital video, Google SketchUp Animations and historical photographs, Life in a Museum acts as collage that attempts to mimic the tangential aspects of memory. The film addresses my upbringing in Prescott, the town's intense pride for its history, and how living there has affected my own perception of time, memory, death and the future. Link to video: https://vimeo.com/126633587
ContributorsJones, Zachary Loren (Author) / Larson, Elizabeth (Thesis director) / Kitson, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
A longing to revisit the people, places, and moments of my past has followed me for years, sometimes affecting me to the extent that the past seems to intrude on my present. In this piece, I wish to turn a critical eye on these feelings of nostalgia and examine how strong emotion can emerge from nothing more than fractured, faded memories. Using footage of moments I had recorded over six months of living in Europe, I seek to sculpt these images from my past into a form that rejects the daze of nostalgia for the fragmented truth of memory. My background is in more traditional narrative filmmaking, and so I was excited to work in this experimental three-screen format, in which I could explore the concept of memory in a manner that felt truer to how I actually experience it. I tested various combinations of imagery in my videos to build the progression of the piece, which I hoped would play out in an associational style that mimicked the process of my own memory. I hope that this will cause people to walk away from the piece thinking about how memory can fuel emotion and even to investigate their own relationship to the past.
ContributorsPowell, Matthew Rhys (Author) / Bradley, Christopher (Thesis director) / Brye, Anne (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Beautiful Accidents is a debut drama-comedy feature screenplay written as a thesis project. For a screenwriter trying to bloom in the Film Industry, the big question is "where is your great feature script?" and "how many do you have?" The pressure is all about the quality of the work and how many feature screenplays are written. Thus, this draft has been in pre-production and conception for a year and a half now. The draft presented as the thesis project is the third draft of a total of three versions of the script. The first and second drafts are drastically different from this third draft in content and character development. After having the opportunity to attend the Cannes Film Festival, the inspiration for another new and improved third draft came to be. It runs 93 pages, and goes beyond presenting an example debut feature screenplay. Throughout the process of writing a feature screenplay, learning to write several drafts to reach a polished draft is a crucial part of the journey as a writer. This was not only a project that included writing a feature film screenplay, but it also contained valuable lessons about the growth of an inspiring writer in regards to being willing to go through several drafts. In addition to the third draft of the script, a teaser opening of the first scene was produced, directed, and starred in as another segment of the thesis project. Run Time: 2:51. The goal for this teaser opening is to serve as a visual sample along with the screenplay. When the time comes to search for investors and producers for the script, this teaser will accompany the material. The script is intentionally written to be a low budget film, so that production could take place independently and locally for a tight budget. The ultimate goal is to produce this film as either an independent film or a semi-independent as writer/director of the project. Synopsis: A quirky romantic comedy about two individuals, Meg and Dave, who believe they are narcissists explore their own perceived narcissism in one another. Meg is a budding music genius who is stuck at Law school, while Dave is a bartender and pool shark. At the ripe age of 22, Meg finds herself for the first time in her life, deeply fascinated in one other person other than herself: Dave, who happens to also be ten years older than her. Her first meeting with Dave is purely an accident, as their continued journey appears to have plenty of them. These accidents prove to be, however, beautiful.
ContributorsKheshtchin-Kamel, Amena (Author) / Montesano, Mark (Thesis director) / Bernstein, Gregory (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Students not only deserve to be actively involved and engaged in learning content knowledge, but it can in fact help them learn better. Arguably too few classrooms actually utilize teaching methods that support this kind of environment. There is perhaps fear that methods like integrated curriculum may detract from student knowledge. The purpose of this intervention study was to determine how the integration of dance and social studies with an anthropological framework effects student learning of content knowledge in social studies, as well as student attitude toward the topic. Research questions that were addressed in this study are the following: (a) How does the integration of dance and social studies with an anthropological framework affect students' chapter test scores when compared to typical instruction?; (b) How does the integration of dance and social studies with an anthropological framework affect students' attitude toward social studies when compared to typical instruction?. Participants were two 6th grade classes at the same elementary school. As a supplement to a unit on Ancient Egypt, the experimental group received four intervention lessons, taught by the investigator, incorporating creative dance to encourage student exploration and increased understanding of content. An anthropological framework was also implemented to foster respectful investigation of culture. Results show that at posttest the intervention group had significantly higher content knowledge, as measured by a chapter test, compared to the control group. This suggests that this program did in fact help students to reach a better understanding of content. Though surveys showed no difference in attitude between groups or over the course of the study, qualitative student responses from the experimental group suggest extremely positive feelings towards concepts covered in the intervention lessons.
ContributorsSmith, Karli Elizabeth (Author) / Kulinna, Pamela (Thesis director) / Vissicaro, Pegge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2015-05